ZRP, co-ministers apologise to lawyer Mahlangu and compensate him

TWO Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) members, former Attorney-GeneralJohannes Tomana and the Home Affairs Ministry have apologised toMordecai Mahlangu, a human rights lawyer and Zimbabwe Lawyers forHuman Rights (ZLHR) Board Chairperson after conceding that theyviolated his fundamental rights when they arrested and detained himalmost a decade ago.

The ZRP members namely Henry Sostein Dowa and Clever Ntini togetherwith the Co-Home Affairs Ministers and Tomana, who served asAttorney-General then, tendered their apologies to Mahlangu last weekafter acknowledging that the ZLHR Board Chairperson’s arrest anddetention in November 2009 was wrongful and unlawful.

In a Deed of Settlement signed on Wednesday 31 October 2018, Dowa,Ntini and the Co-Ministers of Home Affairs, who served during thecoalition government of former President Robert Mugabe and the lateformer Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to pay Mahlangu a totalof $13 500 to cover his legal costs before Friday 30 November 2018.

Mahlangu was placed under arrest and spent one night at Harare CentralPolice Station cells in November 2009 on a trumped up charge ofattempting to obstruct the course of justice. He was apprehended afterhe sought to highlight to the State the difficulties the authoritieswould encounter in using Mutare arms dealer Michael Peter Hitschmannas a State witness during the trial of the late former MDC-Tlegislator Roy Bennett.

Through summons filed at the High Court by his lawyers AdvocateThabani Mpofu instructed by Raymond Moyo of ZLHR, Mahlangu argued that his arrest in 2009 was not warranted as he was acting purely as alegal practitioner giving advice in accordance with his professionalrequirements.